FRIDAY, Sept. 16, 2005 (HealthDay News) -- A federal panel of health experts is not recommending that women be routinely screened for two gene mutations linked to a high risk of breast cancer, unless they have a specific family history for the illness.
The BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, which increase a woman's risk for developing breast and ovarian cancer, are often inherited in women of families, immediate or extended, with breast or ovarian cancer, including women of Ashkenazi Jewish descent.
While 2 percent of women in the United States have family histories that indicate an increased risk for inheriting mutations in BRCA genes, not all women with these histories will have an inherited mutation. And not all with a mutation will develop breast or ovarian cancer, said experts on the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) panel.
They published their recommendations in a recent issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Screening for BRCA mutations involves counseling and risk assessment by a professional, DNA testing for at-risk women and post-test counseling after the results have been disclosed.
The new recommendations can also help primary-care doctors and women face some of the complexities of gene testing, Dr. Wylie Burke, chairman of the department of medical history at the University of Washington, said in a prepared statement.
Although the USPSTF, an independent panel sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, has no authority to mandate that its recommendations be followed, many professional medical organizations endorse its recommendations.
More information
To learn more about the BRCA1 and BCRA2 genes, visit the National Cancer Institute.
